


The 12th Precinct of the Starling City Police Department in the Glades

by somewhereelse



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 15:50:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7178375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somewhereelse/pseuds/somewhereelse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver Queen returns from five years "stranded on a deserted island" and becomes something no one ever expected. He becomes...a police detective? The Arrow gang wanders into Brooklyn Nine-Nine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The 12th Precinct of the Starling City Police Department in the Glades

**Author's Note:**

> The timestamps and sequence of events are in order but don't necessarily reflect the passage of days, e.g., 9 AM to 4 PM may be 4 PM the same day or 4 PM a week later.

**9:03 AM, 12th Precinct of the Starling City Police Department in the Glades**

Sliding in through the closing door, Oliver silently groaned at seeing Captain Lance hovering by his desk. He pasted on his best shit-eating grin and swaggered through the office. "O Captain! My Captain!"

Instinctively, the bullpen turned to watch even as Lance remained impassive as ever. "Queen, you're late and you're not wearing a tie."

Oliver raised his hand just in time to catch the tie that Tommy tossed from his desk across the room. "Only by three minutes, and I most certainly am wearing a tie." Smoothly, without needing a mirror or to adjust, he knotted a perfect double windsor and flipped his collar back into place. The corner of Lance's mouth almost twitched before he turned and walked straight into his office. 

"One of these days, he's going to snap. He's going to snap and he's going to fire you, or maybe murder you. I feel like he's been holding back on that one for literal decades. Then I'll have to go on stakeouts alone or, God forbid, with Roy." She ignored the offended "Hey!" from the next desk over. "Because Digg still won't go into the field even though baby Sara is two and _Lyla_  is already back in the field. Do you think I could convince Digg to go out with me? Not out-out because, duh, Lyla, but into the field--"

Oliver let out a sigh before collapsing into his chair and swiveling to face his partner at the desk pushed against his. "Felicity," he drew her name out until her lips pursed and she unnecessarily adjusted her glasses. "I've got the best arrest record in the city. Lance can't fire me."

"It's really not that impressive. Half your arrests get thrown out because you forget to read them their rights or you mislabel the evidence. It's the entire reason Laurel broke up with you; you're the laughingstock of the DA's office. 'Queen's the arresting officer? Well we're screwed. Better tell the judge we're dropping the charges.' Now, highest conviction rate? That's something to brag about, Felicity."

Felicity's jaw dropped while Thea wandered into their conversation, dropped a few truth bombs in Oliver's lap, offered her a fist bump, and settled back into her post by Lance's office, all without glancing up from her phone. "Oliver," she started once she registered his furrowed brow and look of mild hurt.

He shook his head to cut her off quickly. "I'm fine." And he was because Thea had mastered the art of putting him down the moment she learned to talk in mostly complete sentences. The distinct memory of a triumphant grin and "Ollie slow!" flashed through his mind. 

"Actually, I was going to tell you, your tie doesn't match." With that, Felicity turned back to her meticulous desk and resumed typing up her report for last night's arrest. 

Finally, Oliver looked down at the dirt brown and mustard yellow striped tie, perfectly knotted of course, clashing against his navy button up. "Damn it, Tommy."

**9:41 AM, Glades 12**

Captain Quentin Lance stared out into his bullpen through the slats of his office window blinds and once again cursed and gave thanks for the day Oliver Queen returned from the dead. That ragtag group of misfits out there were (almost) entirely that kid's fault.

Before he was stranded on Lian Yu, no one would have ever thought that Ollie Queen would become one of Starling City's finest police detectives. During his time "away", he realized that fighting in the shadows was all well and good when you had the resources of Amanda Waller, but the victories that made an impact on normal people's everyday lives? Those had to be fought and earned in the light. The elite who failed Starling City had to be exposed for the villains they were and brought to justice, not vengeance. 

So he signed up for the police academy. Because while he needed a college degree to run his family's company, his high school (D is for) diploma was all the force required. The island and other non-island activities gave him a ridiculous physical advantage over not only his classmates but also just about every would-be criminal in Starling City. 

After watching his best friend climb the ranks at the local precinct and work to clean up the city they call home, Tommy was inspired to join up alongside him to the absolute shock and horror of Malcolm Merlyn. And poor Captain Lance, the most even-keeled, uncorrupt, and rational police captain in decades, was having a hard time reconciling the banes of his existence, his daughter's ex and current boyfriends, as not only upstanding citizens but two of the best and brightest detectives under his charge.

Thank God for Felicity Smoak, a Vegas transplant and former Queen Consolidated employee. She had been brought in as a witness to a shooting outside a coffee shop, taken one look at their 1970's computer system, and immediately signed on as after-hours tech support. A month later, she was asked to go undercover in a sting at a Tech Village store. Two days after that operation ended, she officially quit QC, signed up for the academy and sprinted through like a certified genius who graduated MIT early, all to become one of Starling City's finest.

Not long after he assigned the unlikely partnership of Queen and Smoak, mainly to avoid the heart attack inducing partnership of Queen and Merlyn, Thea Queen began dropping by for lunch dates. Rumor (Sara) was that Thea was curious about the blonde IT girl turned detective who her brother considered a friend and partner, but only a friend and partner. His longtime secretary had just retired, and rumor (Laurel) was that Thea had a quick and organized mind with a knack for sorting out paperwork--especially of the court ordered volunteer work kind. So he offered her a temp position and she never left, or looked up from her phone.

And where the Queens went so did their new bodyguard. Because when one of your children is employed as a police detective and the other works at a desk ten feet from a police captain, the rational decision is to hire a bodyguard for their protection. Coincidentally, former military officer John Diggle also came with police credentials and quietly slotted into the vacant sergeant position.

The last piece of this island of misfit toys was arrested for a snatch and grab in the Glades after trying to parkour his way out of it. Red hoodie snuck approximately 57 glances at Thea Queen while being processed by a scowling Oliver Queen and then showed up as a beat cop with the next class of fresh meat. A couple months ago, out of sheer desperation for bodies, he had Diggle and Merlyn start training the kid. Detective Roy Harper still sounded ridiculous to him, but no more than the rest of the clowns he supposed.

**1:07 PM, Glades 12**

"Felicity."

"Oliver." She responded in a normal tone and quirked a manicured eyebrow at him as if to ask,  _why are you whispering?_  


"Have you made any progress on...The List?" They were interrupted by the sound of Roy angrily smacking the side of his computer monitor, and he knew without looking that Felicity was clutching her heart at the sight of the technological abuse. Thankfully, Thea and her stilettos click-clacked over to sort him out before he lost the blonde's focus. 

"You know, I can practically hear the capital letters when you say it like that." He merely shrugged and waited for her to continue. "Some. I can't use all my available resources now that we're sworn police detectives and all that jazz. Nothing good though. What is this list, why do you have it, and why haven't you taken it to Lance?"

"Smoak! Queen! Robbery in progress at Evans and 29th!"

They grabbed their gear and were sprinting for the parking lot by the time Lance's door had stopped rattling on its hinges. "Don't you think Lance has enough to worry about with the uptick in usual crimes?" He slid into the passenger seat, honoring their deal that she always drove to the crime scene or during pursuit because she was totally willing to not take precautions. 

Felicity gave him a hard sidelong glance. "Don't you think all the white collar crime and corruption are a factor in why normal people are so desperate and committing more crimes?"

He was so caught up in her response that he barely noticed when she flipped on the sirens or narrowly avoided four T-bones.

**6:32 PM, League of Assassins Training Club**

"I don't know. It's weird, Sara. He's being weird." Felicity flipped her ponytail over the other shoulder before taking a long swig from her water bottle, which the other blonde promptly swiped.

"Felicity, he came back from five years of "being dead" to become a police detective working under his ex-girlfriend's dad. He  _is_ weird. You're going to have to be more specific."

She wracked her brain for recent examples before shrugging and turning back to the heavy bag they had claimed. "He stares at me. Like all the time."

"Ollie's been staring at you for years. I would say starting right around the time you became a permanent fixture at the precinct." Sara rasied her eyebrows as if to emphasize her point. "Why do you think Thea started hanging out there all time? She wanted to know more about what--or who--had caught her brother's attention."

Felicity was figuratively and literally unmoved after she set her stance and raised her fists. "When I started out at the precinct? You mean, when he was dating McKenna before she transferred, or when he was sleeping with Laurel _again_ while she and Tommy were on a break, or when he was hooking up with you after Nyssa took off to deal with her crazy dad?"

The force of Felicity's punches while she scrolled through Oliver's recent sexual history almost made Sara grin in triumph. "Like you said, he's weird. Finish beating up the Ghosts of Oliver Queen's Girlfriends Past so we can get pizza." Felicity's response was a roundhouse kick that almost caught Sara off-guard.

**8:29 AM, Glades 12**

Felicty smiled at the outgoing staffers of the night shift before slipping by them. Coming up on her desk, she nearly dropped her coffee in surprise. 

"Oliver!" His head popped up at her exclamation, and she suppressed a snort at the sight of a sticky note stuck to his cheek. "Have you been here all night?"

"Yeah." His voice was low and rough, and she involuntarily shivered. It took three swipes before he successfully freed the sticky from his stubble. "I think I've got something on Adam Hunt. Been chasing it down."

After a moment of consideration, she set her coffee in front of him, and he immediately snagged it to gulp it down. "Well, let's hear it then. What couldn't wait till you had a decent night's sleep and an actual meal?"

Oliver took a deep breath before meeting her eyes with the most serious expression she'd ever seen on him. "Adam Hunt has defrauded and stolen nearly $40 million from various Glades residents."

"Oh frack."

"You were right. The people in the Glades weren't always like this. It was a rough neighborhood but it was still a _neighborhood_. Now it's just somewhere you can commit a crime and the cops won't come near you. The people are desperate because the scum that run the city and the businesses made them desperate."

He didn't pause to breathe as he dropped his gaze to glare at the crumpled sticky notes in his hand. "I want to take him down, I want to take them all down. I'm presenting the evidence to Lance and asking him to get permission from Commissioner Steele to start a task force. I need your help to do this, Felicity. I need my partner."

"Oliver." She waited until his breathing had evened and he could look her in the eye. "You know you don't have to ask."

**12:41 PM, Glades 12 Rooftop**

"What the hell is going on here?"

At the first hint of Lance's distinctive drawl, every person on the roof terrace froze. Unfortunately that meant Tommy lost his grip on the arrow he had nocked, and said arrow ended up bouncing off the brick wall--two feet from the corkboard with a shooting range target pinned to it.

"Archery competition?" Thea offered from her perch on the weathered picnic table. "Your lunch with Laurel was supposed to last longer."

Lance's jaw clenched, and Roy instinctively took cover. "I take it this is all part of the recovered stolen goods from the sporting goods store robbery. Queen, evidence locker. Everyone else, back to work."

Silently, the crew began filing back down the emergency stairs. All except for Oliver, who picked up the abandoned compound bow and three arrows.

"No way, no possible way," his best friend called out from where he was holding the door open.

Oliver let out a slow breath before releasing his grip and opened his eyes to find all three arrows clustered in the bullseye. He was impassive as Tommy nearly fell over but gave a small smirk when he saw Felicity's dropped jaw. 

**9:04 PM, League of Assassins Training Club**

"Is there a reason why we're here so damn late? Lyla put Sara to bed almost two hours ago and I want to be home already." Diggle efficiently unwound the tape around his knuckles and went to retrieve the escrima sticks from where they'd been tossed aside earlier. 

Oliver scratched the back of his neck before mumbling, "No reason. You seemed pretty frustrated about the paperwork earlier so I thought it'd be a good idea to blow off steam."

"That's because no one can ever read your writing, Oliver. Five years on a deserted island is no excuse for poor penmanship." He looked hard at the younger man meticulously arranging the equipment even though he didn't need to clean up other people's messes. "This wouldn't have anything to do with how I beat your ass last time while Felicity and Sara were training during their usual 6 pm? Maybe you were a little distracted by her?"

"No, of course not. She's my partner." Oliver finally forfeited his attempt to untangle a pile of jump ropes that had slipped off their designated hook. "We're spending all our time together on the new task force. I'm sure she's sick of seeing my face by now."

Diggle didn't point out that he hadn't specified Felicity as Oliver's source of distraction. "Well, good thing that Lance is pulling her from the task force then." He also didn't bother to hide his grin at Oliver's sudden inhalation and sharp _"What?"_ "Yeah, the fire department's been having trouble with that arsonist but he's started leaving clues about future targets in one of those online anarchy forums. Their investigator--Palmer?--asked for Felicity's help to trace IP addresses or something. Apparently, he's a big fan of hers."

After a long moment, Oliver turned on his heel and disappeared into the locker rooms. 

**8:21 AM, Glades 12**

"I'm asking you to find someone else. I need my partner, Captain. Sir, please."

Lance almost took pleasure in the way Queen had to grind out those honorifics, but the conversation had already lasted 15 minutes longer than necessary. "Queen, while I'm glad that the threat of losing your partner motivates you to show up early, this decision is not yours and has nothing to do with you. The fire department has requested our assistance, we are all too happy to provide it, and Smoak can use her skills and earn a glowing cross-department review. The task force will survive. Dismissed."

Oliver resisted the urge to punch the wall as he exited Lance's office and carefully shut the door behind him. He rubbed his hands over his face and spun to walk back to his desk, only to find Felicity blocking his path, arms crossed and foot tapping, looking very much like she wanted to use her loud voice. 

"Were you just talking to Lance about me?" She didn't wait for his confirmation. "I heard you through the door. Oliver, you had no right to do that. Do you know how hard I've worked to get to where I am in this precinct? Do you know how many people don't take me seriously because I'm just the tech support, never mind young and blond? Do you know how many hours I spent training with Sara and Lyla to beat the pants off those physical exams? Now others are starting to appreciate that I'm excellent at my job, and the first thing you do is go behind my back and try to take it away?"

He had closed his eyes and braced himself for her loud voice but it never came. When she'd been silent for a beat too long, he peeked an eye open and realized he was standing in the middle of the bullpen alone. Spectators from both the exiting night shift and entering day shift were watching him skeptically. Rather than facing what he knew was the judgmental gaze of his little sister, Oliver grabbed his leather jacket off his chair and bolted out the door.

**8:59 AM, Glades 12**

Oliver stopped short upon seeing Felicity at her desk, looking perfectly composed and efficiently typing on her desktop and a Starling City Fire Department-issued laptop simultaneously. After she had disappeared in the middle of almost yelling at him, he had walked the block and then gone for a peace offering.

He quietly took his seat and gingerly placed a cup of coffee just past the crack separating her desk from his. When she didn't so much as look up, Oliver turned to start up his computer. "Felicity, could we talk?"

"I need to meet Palmer at the fire department." Without giving him a chance to respond, she slid a manila folder onto his cluttered desk. "That's a list of next steps for backtracing Hunt's scam. Curtis in IT has a copy; he'll be assisting the task force with that while I'm out."

Anything he would have said was drowned out by first the sound of her laptop slamming shut and then the sharp tap of her heels on the worn linoleum floor.

**9:05 AM, Glades 12**

No fanfare, zero warning. He just moped his way through the front doors, expecting Curtis's afro at Felicity's desk, and was pleasantly surprised to see the blond ponytail he had desperately missed. 

A genuine smile broke out on his face, and he picked up the pace towards their desks. "Of course it would take Felicity Smoak four days to do what SCFD couldn't for four months."

She opened a desk drawer to retrieve her badge and gun then slammed it shut with more force than strictly necessary. "You're late. Let's go." 

Oliver frowned in confusion at the ponytail swinging out the door before remembering. Right, silent treatment. Still. Damn it.

**6:14 PM, League of Assassins Training Club**

"I don't know. It's weird, Tommy. She's being weird." Oliver waited for Tommy to adjust his grip on the heavy bag before resuming his attack.

"This is Felicity you're talking about. She might be an actual ray of sunshine parading as a computer genius and her chosen profession involves chasing down criminals. She's kind of weird, man. Be more specific."

"She won't talk to me. She won't even look at me. I've been bringing her coffee every day since she's been back, and she has completely ignored me." Oliver punctuated his complaints with forceful punches.

Tommy rolled his eyes and pushed off the bag, swinging it towards Oliver. "Oh is that why we're here during Felicity and Sara's session? You going to take your shirt off and hit the salmon ladder next?" At Oliver's caught expression, he chuckled, "What? Just because I'm not Digg, doesn't mean I'm completely oblivious. Have you tried actually apologizing, maybe with some flowers?"

"Ice cream. I'll get her ice cream," Oliver corrected with a grin, plan in place.

**7:53 PM, Felicity's Apartment**

Felicity peered through the peephole to see the label for her favorite brand of mint chip ice cream. Instinctively, she knew who was hiding behind it.

"I'm sorry," Oliver blurted out, thrusting the gallon of mint chip in her face the moment the door opened. After a long moment, she sighed and took the ice cream from his grip.

"Were you apologizing to me or your shoes?"

He looked up and quirked a slight grin at her raised eyebrows. "I didn't hurt my shoes' feelings. Can I come in?"

Felicity opened the door wider and he followed her in, kicking his shoes off next to her pile of heels. He had just settled on the couch when she reappeared with the ice cream and two spoons.

"Look, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to take away that assignment or sabotage you."

She let out another quiet sigh and dug her spoon into the top of the ice cream. "Then what were you trying to do?"

"I just--If you thought you needed to prove yourself when you started out, so did I. I was the biggest screw-up in Starling City history. The only reason I didn't have an arrest record longer than Roy's is because the old commissioner was a corrupt asshole and my parents kept paying him off."

"I know all of that, Oliver. It's why I was glad to be partnered with you. You kept putting up this facade like you didn't care, like you were still that same delinquent from before, but you care about this city and you do your best to try and save it. I was so excited when you got the task force. I know it's something you want to use to prove yourself, and it got you to drop that dumb playboy image. What?" Felicity smoothed a hand over her hair, flustered by Oliver's intense gaze.

"I didn't think you'd noticed all of that." His response was quiet, and he fiddled with the spoon she had given him earlier. "No one else did."

"Of course I did. You're my partner." She was surprised when her response evoked a genuine smile from him. 

Sensing his opening, Oliver latched onto her words and her hands. "Exactly. You're remarkable, Felicity. I don't know what I'd do without you. Not even for four days."

Jealous. Felicity couldn't believe that he was jealous, or that he would admit it without actually admitting it. Regardless, it wasn't something her career could afford him being, work-marriage or no. "Sweet as that is, sometimes we're going to have to work apart. And you can't throw a temper tantrum every time that happens."

"I know, I know. You deserve to be respected, and I don't want to undo any of your hard work just because I don't like other people. I'll do better next time." He was more than a little proud of the look of absolute shock and awe on her face, more so than when he acknowledged that his entire problem came down to sharing her time and attention.

"You're making it shockingly easy to forgive you." She reached up to adjust her glasses and realized how close they had gotten when she nearly smacked his jaw with her hand. Felicity went to pull back, and Oliver awkwardly released her other hand before frowning slightly. 

He made it a point to clear his expression before responding. "Well, I have been working on what to say for over a week. You were just refusing to talk to me."

Felicity grimaced and sighed. It was something both Digg and Lance, not to mention Sara in her capacity as a supportive friend, had commented on before. "I'm sorry about that. You know how I get when I'm upset. It was either the silent treatment or getting sarcastic at every passing comment. I'll do better next time too."

"I can take the sarcasm. Just...never stop talking to me again. I can't take it, not from you." She jerkily nodded and drew him into a hug that made zero sense when two people were sitting sideways on a couch. Mutually, they ignored how his touch lingered as they shared the ice cream he'd brought over.

**11:03 AM, Glades 12 Breakroom**

"I'm glad that you and Ollie kissed and made up." Thea gave her a bright smile as she finished preparing her coffee from the fancy machine she had specially brought in. The young heiress didn't need to work at the one-two, but it gave her a sense of accomplishment, and everyone else benefitted from her refusal to give up her creature comforts.

Felicty froze in the act of taking a sip from her own coffee. "No kissing. There was no kissing. There was talking and there was apologizing. There was absolutely no kissing. Now I've said kissing too many times." To shut herself up, she took a large gulp of her still-too-hot coffee and winced in regret.

"It's just a figure of speech?" Loud yelling interrupted Thea's confused response, and she poked her head out the door. "HEY! SHUT UP!"

"You can't tell me what to do, princess!" Felicity assumed the response came from a perp and not one of the staff members.

"THE HELL I CAN'T! I RUN THIS PLACE SO SHUT UP ALREADY!" With that, Thea nonchalantly brushed a stray lock of hair off her forehead and calmly turned back to Felicity. "You're being weird. No kissing, okay. Almost kissing? Did you and Ollie almost kiss?"

She knew her face had gone bright red so Felicity tried for incredulous instead. "No, that's absolutely ridiculous. We're partners. I don't think of him like that and he definitely doesn't think of me like that. You've been watching too much reality TV, Thea. Gotta cut back on that. Next thing I know you'll be trying to mash our names together."

"Freaking finally. I thought Olicity never happen. Just remember who's your favorite future sister-in-law next time I need help with my phone." Thea sailed back to her desk, leaving a gaping Felicity in her wake.

**11:55 AM, Glades 12**

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?"

"Hi, Dad. Nice to see you, too." Sara greeted her father with a hug. "Picking up Felicity for lunch. Someone else is too busy and important for me."

"Aw come on. Don't be like that. You know I'd rather be having lunch with you than the city council." Lance frowned heavily at his formal jacket hanging on the back of his door.

Sara laughed lightly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I know, Dad. It's why you're lucky police captain isn't an elected position. So much less ass-kissing. Go on, I'll see you for dinner on Thursday." He gave her a final look of regret before throwing on his jacket and disappearing out the side door.

"Smoak, let's go." Sara approached her and Oliver's desk where they were both staring intently at their computer screens. "Thea, are you coming or are you getting lunch with loverboy today?"

At that, Oliver's head sprung up, and he quickly scanned the room to figure out who Sara was talking about. "Harper, are you dating my little sister!?"

Felicty gave her an exasperated look before following Oliver over to where he had cornered Roy. Surprisingly, the young almost-detective had steeled his spine and was facing down the taller man with a stubborn look.

"How did he not know already?" Sara asked out loud when Thea came over to join her as spectator.

Thea gave a light shrug, too interested in how her boyfriend would handle her overprotective brother, even with Felicity's protection. "Ollie's oblivious. He still thinks Felicity isn't interested in him like that."

"Felicity's not doing any better on that front. We've got so much work to do." Sara's comment pulled Thea's attention, and the brunette gave her a look of disbelief.

"Oh, does she do that high-pitched denial stream of no's with you, too?"

"Hell, I practically invented that noise. 'No, no, noooooooo, no, no, no.' Did that the first time I called her out on checking out Ollie at the LOA." Sara chuckled lightly at the memory of Felicity's dazed sound of appreciation before she realized who she had been ogling.

"Is that why he's suddenly shirtless all the time? When he came back from the island, he was so paranoid about anyone seeing the scars. Now, he's allergic to shirts and addicted to salmon ladders. God damn preening show pony."

"So good of you to join the conversation, Merlyn." Sara nudged Tommy's shoulder playfully before turning her attention back to the scene. 

Tommy gave his signature grin then mimicked their poses, leaning against Felicity's and Oliver's desks. "Hey, don't mind me. Olicity is everyone's favorite guessing game." 

"Please tell me there's an office pool."

Thea snorted in response. "Of course there's an office pool. It's a full Starling City government services pool. We've got the police department, the fire department, the paramedics, the graveyard shift at Starling City General, half of the courthouse, the staff at City Hall. What is this, amateur hour? Your dad doesn't know about it, obviously."

"Oh he knows. You may think he doesn't know but he knows. Dad knows about  _everything_." Sara continued before Thea could express her doubt. "That time these idiots broke into the high school pool and went skinny dipping sophomore year? Yeah, he waited until Laurel's senior year of college to use that one. I've never seen her forfeit an argument that quickly."

Tommy involuntarily shuddered. "God, your father is terrifying. Why do I work for him again?"

"Because, weirdly, the only place that would hire you with your police record is the police department," Felicity answered, hauling an unwilling Oliver along with her toward the group. "Thea, why don't you and Roy go get lunch? Sara and I will take Oliver with us."

Oliver opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by Tommy. "No, don't try and talk back, buddy, or Smoak'll put you in time out." Tommy received a death glare, but Oliver wisely did not otherwise respond and allowed himself to be dragged out of the building by the two blondes.

**11:12 PM, NW Corner of Federal and 43rd**

"I. Am. So. Excited."

"Felicity, we're on a stakeout." Oliver's expression was half-incredulous, half-amazed. "We're stuck in this car for the next god only knows how long."

Roy had been tipped off by an old Glades buddy, one of Adam Hunt's former enforcers who'd been burned by the corrupt man, about a meet-up that was sure to be Hunt's newest scam. Hunt had gone to ground over the past few months, and although they had an airtight case on his previous schemes, the DA was refusing to even look at the file unless he had evidence of recent criminal activity, and something headline grabbing. Hence, the fully staffed stakeout with more than the occassional grumble from Tommy and Roy about the lack of insulation in abandoned warehouses.

"Yeah, but Digg's with us. Digg!" Felicity quickly turned to the backseat to give the large man her best excited face. "I can't believe you're out in the field again. This is going to be the best. Team--damn, we need a nickname."

"No, we don't," Oliver grumped from behind the steering wheel.

"Yes, we do. John will help me come up with one." She nodded decisively at Diggle, who merely chuckled in response. "And stop being grouchy just because you have to pee. You think I can't tell just because you refuse to say it out loud, but we've been on enough stakeouts together that I can totally tell. Get out and go around the corner already."

"I'll get spotted."

"The meet isn't supposed to be till midnight."

"It's public indecency."

"Oh, yes, Digg and I are going to follow you around the corner and arrest you the moment you whip it out. If I wanted a look at the goods--oh my god, just go already." Felicity buried her face in her hands as Oliver shouldered the door open and Diggle barely suppressed a full bellied laugh.

"Damn, you two have not changed. Could cut the sexual tension in here with a butter knife."

Felicty half-turned in the passenger seat to level a glare at him. "No sexual tension. There is no sexual tension here." The only response was a raised eyebrow. "No, we've had this conversation before. I can't with him. We've all seen the way he goes through women, even ones he works with. And now with this task force, he's finally starting to focus and take the job seriously. You remember what he was like before, what with the arrest competition with Tommy and almost getting investigated for police brutality."

"Oh, I remember. I'm the one who would have had to call Internal Affairs, and he was two incidents short of it." Diggle gave a short sigh when the blonde gave him an  _exactly_ expression. "Felicity, Oliver always had the capacity to be a better man, a good man, and he was on his way there on his own. But you help each other be better, and you two need to talk."

They were interrupted by the door opening suddenly. "I saw someone pull up around back. Felicity, can you pull up the camera feed?"

Instantly, the blonde turned her attention to her tablet, and the wireless security cameras they had planted just hours ago.

"It's him," she confirmed, "half dozen goons. No sign of the other party."

As Diggle radio'd the new info to the rest of the team, Oliver let out a frustrated growl before settling in to wait.

**1:35 AM, Verdant**

Lance surveyed his team from where he was leaning against the bar. The very same bar he had raided when Oliver had first returned and decided that throwing his hat into the Starling City nightlife was going to be his career path. Not long after, he had changed course entirely to join the police force, and the club became the local cop bar, which was surprisingly well-patronized by the non-criminal residents of the Glades.

In addition to the sergeant and detective squad, Diggle and Roy had called Lyla and Thea down to celebrate. Laurel had already been at the station with them to ensure that Hunt's arrest was processed by the book. Sara had stepiped in to tend bar after the actual bartender headed home half an hour ago. A number of the swing shift had also stuck around for a celebratory drink.

"Hey!" He was tired of waiting for the din of the crowd to settle down. "Oliver, Felicity, this one's all you. Congrats and good work. Let's catch the rest of these bastards. " Lance gave them both a solemn nod before raising his glass. The gathered crowd let out a short cheer before throwing back the shots Oliver had generously provided. 

Felicity deposited her shot in Thea's waiting hands and offered a wave to everyone else. "I got to get home before I can't make it. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You headed out?" She turned in surprise to find Oliver behind her and holding yet another tray of shots, which he quickly slid onto the table. "I'll walk you to your car."

Oliver waited patiently by the door as she slid into her coat and begged off Thea's and Laurel's pleading to stay longer. "We did it." Her voice was tinged with disbelief. "I bet it all comes crashing down like a house of cards now. Hunt will take whatever deal they offer and give them all up."

"Couldn't have done it without you." He jammed his hands into his jacket pockets as they slowly began to wander through the alleys back to the precinct where everyone had left their cars. "You do know that right? I know you think it was the task force that focused me but you helped me realize that was even a possibility. Without you, I'd still be beating up every petty criminal I ran into, thinking that was actually making a difference."

Oliver stopped short and made a pained sound of frustration. "I've been telling myself that if we just got Hunt, if we just got one of them, then I could finally--you and I--together--I mean, if you--"

Felicity whirled around to face him and poked him sharply in the chest. "You are not stumbling your way through asking me out in the middle of an alley at almost 2 AM!"

He had a moment to look shamefaced before her hands came up to grasp his leather jacket and pull him down into a kiss.

"Damn, can we do this forever?" Oliver couldn't help his wide grin when they broke for air. 

"They're going to make us fill out so much paperwork," Felicity shakily responded, dropping her forehead to rest on his chest. 

Oliver managed to huff out a laugh before his lips insisted on reattaching themselves to Felicity's. "I think Thea won the pool and I bet her that if she did, she'd have to do all our paperwork to report the relationship. So we're all good. So, so good."

It took her a moment to piece together what he was mumbling in between kisses and then another for her brain to actually process words into understandable thoughts. 

"Wait, what pool?"


End file.
